


Easier Done Than Said

by seungsols



Series: Books, Beer, and Bachelor Degrees [17]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Best Friends, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-12
Updated: 2016-09-12
Packaged: 2018-08-14 13:47:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8016373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seungsols/pseuds/seungsols
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s easier for Jihoon to express his endearment with expressions and actions rather than with words, but it’s difficult because he's not sure if it's easy for Wonwoo to decipher.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Easier Done Than Said

**Author's Note:**

> Title based on the English expression “easier said than done.” (Also, same. #relatableJihoon)

Jihoon was fidgeting. He continuously twiddled his thumbs in a circular motion around each other as his other fingers were interlocked. His eyes were aimed towards the ground, a soft, off-white tiling that occasionally the doctors stepped on while bypassing, adding to the orderly and hustling atmosphere in the hospital. He’s been waiting for almost an hour for the doctor to come back to him with a status report on Wonwoo.

Him, Wonwoo, and Soonyoung were having lunch earlier that day. Soonyoung was flaunting about how many fries he can stick in his mouth without choking or vomiting. Jihoon shook his head at the idea but watched in entertainment as he ate his own fries with his burger. Glancing over, he noticed that Wonwoo didn’t order anything but a cup of water.

“You aren’t hungry, Woo?” Jihoon asked as he took a sip of his cola. Soonyoung was on his twenty-seventh fry when he looked over at Wonwoo who shook his head.

“I’m fine, don’t worry,” Wonwoo smiled.

Now, Jihoon knew that was a sign to worry. He’s been monitoring Wonwoo and he’s noticed a trend with his actions over the course of a month. His friend has constantly been rubbing his stomach, but the others never seemed to notice on account that he’s always wearing hoodies or sweaters so he can shove his hands in the pocket to do so, but Jihoon noticed. He’s also hasn’t been eating when they go out to eat.

Wonwoo’s been using the excuse that ‘he’s trying to eat healthier’ when Jihoon or the other two would ever ask. Soonyoung shrugged any suspicion off, but Junhui and Jihoon were always questioning if that were truly the case. Junhui was always busy though, having a packed schedule of classes this semester and working part-time at his father’s company, so he never had the chance to see Wonwoo or his habits.

Jihoon’s schedule, on the other hand, was practically in sync with Wonwoo’s. He saw everything. From how Wonwoo hasn’t eaten fried chicken with them when it was their weekly trip to the chicken restaurant for a discount (which Soonyoung thoroughly didn’t mind since that meant less money to spend when they went out) to him not eating lunch with the three on Wednesdays when all of them had a free slot at noon to go to the library and ‘study. 

Jihoon isn’t the type to ask directly. But rather the type to carry out small assisting actions. Throughout the month, he’s been performing little acts of generosity: making Wonwoo tea when they study together at his apartment, putting Wonwoo’s salad combo on his tab so Wonwoo doesn’t have to pay, putting a blanket over him when he ends up falling asleep on the dining room table where they write their notes together.

  
  


Driving Wonwoo to the hospital was one action he never imagined he would have to perform though.

 

 

Jihoon went to check on Wonwoo who was napping in his room when he heard groaning from outside the door. Quickly, he set the tray of Wonwoo’s usual snack, barley tea and butter on toast, onto the floor and opened the door. His eyes widened as he stood there almost frozen when he saw Wonwoo groaning in pain with his head on the pillow as his knees were tucked in and his arms were covering his stomach.

“Wonwoo!” Jihoon yelped as he dashed over and rolled his friend to his side, only to be taken aback from Wonwoo sniffling with red eyes. “What happened? Are you hurt? Do you need medicine?”

“I-I’m fine, Jihoon-”

“If you were fine, you wouldn’t be like this right now!” He wasn’t sure if the people in his apartment complex could hear him but Jihoon didn’t care right now. A multitude of emotions was rushing upon him as he helped Wonwoo sit up and against the wall as he kept rubbing his stomach. He watched as he continued to sniffle, realizing that the increase in volume of his voice wasn’t making the situation any better.

He began taking deep breaths to calm himself down, he knew Wonwoo wouldn’t like him to get upset for hiding this from him for so long, especially in this state. “It’ll be done in a few. Give me a second,” Wonwoo mumbled through his soft cries of agony.

Not sure what to do or how to react, Jihoon just sat beside Wonwoo. He reached over and grabbed Wonwoo’s hand and squeezed it. His friend squeezed it in return, gripping it tightly as if he were dangling at the edge of a cliff and Jihoon was the hand of hope. Jihoon sat there quietly, the only sounds that filled the air was the constant hissing and grunts that softly escaped Wonwoo’s mouth. His right hand grew numb from how secure Wonwoo’s grasp was on his, but Jihoon could care less about his hand, he was more worried about his friend.

Wonwoo’s cries slowly came to a stopping point, to which Jihoon used his free hand to let his taller friend lean on his shoulder. “What was that?”

“Nothing…”

“You can’t tell me it was nothing when you were clearly in a lot of pain.” Wonwoo didn’t respond and instead kept his eyes closed as he tried to calm down his breathing. Jihoon blamed himself with how poorly his wording and timing were when it came to comforting people. He shook his head and squeezed Wonwoo’s hand as they were still held together. “C’mon, we’ll go to the living room and wait for the other two.”

It wasn’t long before Junhui and Soonyoung came back from class and heard about what happened. Immediately, Soonyoung rushed to grab the phone, squealing when he was attacked to the ground by Jihoon. “D-don’t call the ambulance!”

“But this is an emergency!” Soonyoung whined as he tried to keep the phone out of the way as Jihoon kept pushing his face away and reaching for it.  

Junhui rolled his eyes and walked over to grab the landline and put it back to its station. He looked over at Wonwoo who was napping on the couch and grumbles how this explains how strange he’s been acting this month. He looked back at the two who were still brawling on the floor and he shook his head. “Let’s just drive him to the hospital. It’s only five minutes away from campus.”

Junhui easily lifted the sleeping Wonwoo on his back as Jihoon and Soonyoung were fighting over the keys to Junhui’s car. The eldest rolled his eyes and look over.

“Jihoon, drive. Soonyoung, navigate.” The two blinked and looked at each other and nodded in a truce. Junhui sat in the back as Wonwoo leaned on his shoulder, slowly waking up and blinking in shock when the guys told him where they were going.

“Oh, hell no!” Wonwoo shook his head as he tries to unbuckle his seatbelt and went to unlock the door. Soonyoung, with his phone on the GPS, squealed and threw his phone at Wonwoo in a state of panic. “What the fuck!” 

“I'm sorry!” Soonyoung whined as Junhui handed the phone back to the shotgun passenger and rubbed the side of Wonwoo’s cheek that was hit. Jihoon was the only one who seemed calm.

Keyword: seemed. Internally, his thoughts and emotions were as chaotic as the arguing and movement in the car. Jihoon tightened his grasp of the wheel as he mumbled to himself not to lose his cool and yell at them to shut up. Jihoon was a mess already, but him speaking would make this situation much worse.

The nurses took Wonwoo in for a check-up and examination. He was quickly brought into a room on the bed after the doctor checked and recommended him to stay the night. Jihoon sat between Soonyoung, who still felt bad about hitting Wonwoo with his phone, and Junhui, who was rubbing his temples and sighing.

“I have to leave soon,” Junhui looked over at Jihoon. “I clock in in about an hour and it takes thirty minutes to drive there.” Jihoon nodded and handed back the keys.

“I have to go back to campus too!” Soonyoung injected. “I still have a class at seven that ends at nine at night.” The other two looked at Soonyoung who pouted. “It's for my major so, no, I'm not skipping. Shocking, I know.”

Jihoon sighed. “I'll stay. I'll just bus back to the apartment if they try to kick me out.”

“You sure, Jihoon?” Soonyoung asked as he and Junhui stood up. “We can always come back tomorrow to check up on him.”

“No, that's okay,” Jihoon shook his head as he leaned back against the chair, twiddling his thumbs. “I just want to stay with him so he doesn't feel lonely.”

Junhui and Soonyoung shared a glance and smiled before Junhui patted Jihoon’s shoulder. “You always had a way with these things.” They bid their friend a farewell as they headed down the corridor to the lobby exit.

Jihoon was left in the hallway surrounded by the constant noise of feet walking, wheelchairs rolling, phones ringing, papers on clipboards flipping, and physicians talking. He drained all those background sounds out with his thoughts that mostly consisted of Wonwoo and his well being.

The four boys are close to each other, but Soonyoung sometimes got on his nerves and Junhui can get annoying with acting like he knows best, but Wonwoo was different. The two of them are both quiet and usually don't speak unless spoken to, but there was a trait that Jihoon was jealous of: Wonwoo’s  way with words.

Jihoon deems himself under average when it comes to words and wording as he often gets angry and stubborn and the words he spits out can become swords of destruction rather than blankets of comfort. As much as he loves and cares for his friends, he's positive he made them upset or possibly even cry, especially Soonyoung, with his words.

That's why he adapted to speak with his actions rather than words. His acts of service were subtle instead of extravagant and attention-seeking. He would rather the sole person he's taking care of see it rather than a crowd of people. He was never sure if his best friends, or his other friends for that matter, actually understood the kindness behind them, but he at least hoped they did.

Wonwoo, comparatively, had words of affirmation always flowing out of his mouth. Not only that, he spoke eloquently and fluidly, which brought the receiver’s mood and spirit up twice as high; something Jihoon could only dream of doing someday.

His older friend was the only one who kept encouraging him when he was feeling stressed and anxious about exams or presentations, mostly because Wonwoo was the only person he confided to in these situations. Wonwoo was a friend, indeed. A great friend, probably even more than a friend, which is a rare thought for Jihoon to think of towards someone.

The doctor peaked his head out and saw Jihoon sitting and walks over to him. Jihoon looked up when the doctor coughed for his attention. “You must be Jihoon, hm?” Jihoon nodded and stood up as he followed the doctor to the room. The moment he stepped inside, his eyes were focused on Wonwoo on the bed as he was sleeping.

“Sir, is he alright?” Jihoon asked anxiously.

“Yes,” the doctor responded. “His medicine just makes him drowsy, but he should be alright.” He sat down with the doctor at the table near the bedside. “Gastritis.”

Jihoon blinked. “Is that what he has?”

The physician nodded. “It's an inflammation of the stomach. We think it was caused by the infection of a bacteria or a virus, but we're still not sure.” He saw the look on Jihoon’s face as he glanced over and patted his shoulder. “Your friend will be fine, we're suggesting a few changes in his diet and lifestyle though to compensate for the pain.”

Jihoon nodded firmly as the doctor handed over papers and pamphlets about the infection while explaining what Wonwoo could eat and how much of it he could ingest. The younger friend listened intently, nodding at the doctor’s every word as he wrote it down with the pen behind his ear and a napkin he pulled from the food tray.

After the doctor finished talking he stood up and smiled at Jihoon. “You're a good friend.”

“M-me?” Jihoon asked in disbelief.

The man laughed wholeheartedly and smiled. “Absolutely, not many people would stay with their friends in the hospital.”

The college student looked over at Wonwoo who was still asleep and grabbed his hand to give it a light squeeze. “He's a good friend to me too,” Jihoon smiled.

After the doctor left, Jihoon was left, once again, with his thoughts. But he started talking aloud this time.

“Idiot,” Jihoon frowned as he leaned his cheek on the mattress as he still held Wonwoo’s hand with the hospital bracelet on it. “You could have told me, we could have gotten this settled earlier when you first experienced pain.” He closed his eyes and took a deep sigh. “That would have been much easier. I wouldn't have to see you go through all of that.”

Wonwoo woke up in the midst of Jihoon grumbling to himself but decided to act as if he were still asleep just to hear Jihoon since Wonwoo barely hears him speak his mind.

“I told you to eat your food,” Jihoon continued as he rubbed his eyes and nuzzled more into the sheets, “but you kept refusing to… had I known this was why, I wouldn’t have been upset with you then.”

“You had every right to be upset with me,” Wonwoo finally spoke softly. Jihoon finched at the sudden response and opened his eyes slowly to see Wonwoo looking at him with a small smile and squeezed his hand back. “I was stubborn for not telling you why I didn’t want to eat… and for still refusing to eat.”

Jihoon tried to clean himself up as he rubbed the sleeves of his sweatshirt over his face to dry the tears and Wonwoo snickered, letting go of Jihoon’s hand to use the pads of his thumbs to wipe the tears. He smiled at Jihoon who sniffled as they went back to their original position, joining hands once again. “Genetic?”

Wonwoo nodded. “I asked about it and my grandfather’s stomach reacted the same way to the virus or bacteria when he had it, according to the family records.” he looked over at the tray of food and sighed. “Oh man, first I can’t eat seafood and now I can’t eat all the good food when we go out to eat.”

They both chuckled as Jihoon hummed. “We can cook food for you to bring when we eat out.” Wonwoo whined as Jihoon squeezed his hand. “Okay, yeah, I know that sounds lame, but it’s better than watching us eat while you just drink your water, right?”

“I guess.”

“We’ll find ways around this, Wonwoo. Don’t worry.”

It was silent as Wonwoo began to play with Jihoon’s hand. “Jihoon, I don’t know how you do it.”

“Do what?”

“This,” Wonwoo looked over and gestured to himself and the hospital room. “I was being stubborn and refusing to eat yet you kept telling me to, feeding me snacks, making me feel comfortable when I nap.”

“You… you notice?”

“Hell yeah, I do! Why do you think I try to give back to you by writing you those sticky notes all over your room or stay up on the phone with you when you want to talk, huh? I’m not good at giving back like you are.”

“That’s… somewhat ironic because I was always trying to give back to you for encouraging me since I’m so bad with words.”

They both looked at each other and blinked. Wonwoo was the first to laugh and Jihoon puffed his cheeks before realizing the situation and laughing along with him. The two of them looked at each other and smiled, Jihoon squeezing Wonwoo’s hand and Wonwoo reciprocating the gesture. “Thanks, Jihoon,” Wonwoo smiled as he lean against the pillow again. “You’re the best.”

“No,” Jihoon chuckled as he sandwiched Wonwoo’s hand between both of his. “Thank _you_ , Wonwoo.”

**Author's Note:**

> AYOOOOOOOOOOO it's been like two months since I published something?? CRIES I missed you guys ;_____; But I've been busy with classes starting again and then new apartment, reconnecting with friends since I went abroad, etc. Hopefully I have time to write within my schedule though because I love writing ; v ; 
> 
> Also, I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO WRITE A 96LINE BASED FIC AND-- LET ME JUST SAY THIS IS ONE OF A FEW I HAVE IN MY DRAFTS?? (I just love them a lot okei) 
> 
> But anywho, just a reminder I'm alive hehe! I hope to reach my goal of 100 fics before the end of the year ♡


End file.
